Your 3 October food & drink takeaways
The American bar that provided the top setting for a blockbuster movie, another at the centre of a classic noir story and an English dales bar that served as the local for a highly popular character.
Just some of food & drink delights that 3 October brings to the table.
Click on the links for extra helpings.
A curated taster menu of every day’s food & drink associations
Food on screen
1986
Oscar-winning action movie Top Gun starring Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis opens in UK cinemas.
"Kansas City Barbeque is a restaurant and bar {header photo} located in the harbor district of San Diego, California. Self-proclaimed as the “Top Gun Bar”, it is known for being the filming location for scenes used in the film."
"This longtime sports bar + BBQ restaurant is where Goose (Anthony Edwards) and Maverick (Tom Cruise) hop on the piano and play “Great Balls of Fire” as Carole (Meg Ryan) and Charlie (Kelly McGillis) sing along."
1941
Classic film noir movie The Maltese Falcon starring Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor premieres in New York.
The Maltese Falcon Room of John’s Grill Steaks & Seafood in San Francisco forms the entire second level private room. “The room's walls are surrounded by memorabilia from the classic film starring Humphrey Bogart. There is a case with antique books and a statue of the famous Maltese Falcon.”
Author of the original novel, Dashiel Hammett, worked next door to John’s Grill in the Flood Building in the 1920s, eating and, more often, drinking at the restaurant.
“John's Grill. . .has gotten plenty of mileage out of a single sentence by Hammett. In the novel. Sam Spade, Hammett’s iconic shamus, stops at the restaurant and orders "chops, baked potatoes, sliced tomatoes." That was enough to get John's Grill named a national literary landmark by the Friends of the Library, USA, complete with a plaque over the door.”
Food in writing
It's the birthday of James Herriot, English author of the highly popular book series It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet, All Creatures Great and Small, All Things Bright and Beautiful. He was born on this day in 1916.
Herriot describes in his books how his wife Helen spoiled him with good food and the subsequent effect it had on his waistline. “ I knew what Helen's daily food parcel would contain; not just sandwiches but meat and onion pie, buttered scones and ginger cake to lead me into further indiscretions.”
When it came for the books to be adapted for television, The King’s Arms in Askrigg became Herriot's local The Drover’s Arms.
Food art of the day
Still life with a dish of fried eggs by French painter Gustave Loiseau – born on this day in 1865.
